Sad, Beautiful, Tragic
by katierosefun
Summary: (One-shot and post 'All Too Well') Cadena's son, Anakin, finds himself missing the mother he has never known...


**Hi doods! So...I'm back with another one-shot about Cadena...only this time, it's with her son...and YES, I know, I've never really gotten in-depth with the details of her son until the epilogue of 'All Too Well' but I had a funny idea where what if her son saw her as a Force-ghost or something...? But yeah! Let's just have that sink in, shall we? Plus, I've been driven out of my mind with other fan fictions and I just needed to pay a quick visit to Cadena...now, before ya'll can ask, this will probably be the last somewhat sad story about Cadena...everything else is gonna be either humorous and cute. XD That being said, since I'm being obsessed with holidays, lately, my next Cadena-and-Anakin one-shot will be posted on Halloween! What do you think will happen?! XD Anyways, read on! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! PLEASE!**

Anakin Jr.—

_I was straggling around, half-blind with pain and agony. My mind was in a jumble and I finally rested against a tree, panting and struggling to catch my breath. _

_Another stab of pain went through my head and I cried out, feeling useless and weak. I slid down to the ground and closed my eyes. All I ever knew was hurt, and suffering, and anger, and—_

_"Don't give up yet, my son." A gentle voice says from the distance and I opened my eyes. Suddenly, the thick forest of trees vanished around me and all I saw was a soft, gentle white color. _

_In front of me stood a young woman with a mess of dark, curly hair and cheerful brown eyes that were shining with happiness and wisdom. _

_The woman reached out her hand and she touched my face. I felt tears spring into my eyes and I whispered in a small, childish voice, "Mama?" _

_My mother smiled and with her other hand, she pulled me close to her in an embrace. I felt all of my sadness and grief wash away and allowed myself to feel safe…feel at ease again._

_"I'm sorry for leaving you, Anakin. You've grown so much…and I wasn't even around to watch." She smiles lightly and pulled away. _

_"Where are you going?" I asked, the temporary comfort of having my mother with me vanishing. My mother smiled at me and she says, "I'm going back to the place where I can guide you." _

_I reached out my hand but my mother was already fading back into the light. "No, wait! I wanna come with you!" I shouted. _

_My mother smiled at me and says, "Your time isn't now, my son. Remember—cherish your life and always believe!" With that, she disappeared. _

I woke up with a start, gasping. My clothes were stuck to my body with sweat and I was shivering. My father looked up at me from the chair at my bedside and gave me a relieved yet tired smile.

"Are you feeling better, Anakin?" He asks quietly, squeezing my hand. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Dad, where am I? What happened?" I asked in a hoarse, scratchy voice.

"You were delirious last night from the flu, don't you remember?" My father asks me worriedly and I paused. "Oh." I mumbled and rubbed my hands over my face wearily.

"Sorry." I said, taking note of how worn out my father looked. Instead, he smiles again and said, "Come on, Anakin…you're thirteen, not an adult. It's alright for people to take care of you."

I shook my head. "I didn't mean for you to—" Then, my breath got caught in my throat and I stood up, kicking the blankets away from me.

"Dad, I saw her!" I shouted excitedly. My father blinks and he stood up, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Anakin, calm down, you're going to overextend yourself again." He said firmly. I clutched at my hair and yelled, "But Dad, I saw her! I saw Mom! She's…she's…she spoke to me! She touched me!"

My father watched as I twisted myself out of his grip and began shouting, "She's still there! Dad, you know what she said? She says that she's watching over us! I actually…I actually got to talk to her!"

I began jumping around the room and grabbed for my light saber at the night stand, hoping to feel any stronger connection and blinked when in surprise when I realized that it wasn't there.

"Dad, where's my light saber?" I asked. My father smirks and says, "You almost tried to attack everyone with it…Ahsoka ended up taking it away from you just for safety measures."

I felt my face heat up and plopped down back into the bed. "Oh." I mumbled, embarrassed. Almost at that exact moment, Ahsoka Tano, a good friend of my father's and my possible master pokes her head into the room.

"I heard shouting…Anakin, are you feeling better?" Ahsoka asks, walking into the room. I nodded and my father turned to the Togruta female. "He's been bouncing up and down the moment he's woken up…he saw Cadena." He whispers.

Cadena.

That was what my father called my mother whenever he was talking to Ahsoka or Master Kenobi, who stopped by every so once in a while.

It pained me to see my father whenever he's talking about mom. His eyes would suddenly dull and glaze over and take on that sad, mourning light that always shone whenever he was upset. It's been hard on him. I already knew how my mom died…and I was actually named after the one who technically killed my mother.

I self-consciously felt my hands clench at the thought and stopped, my fingernails still digging into the flesh of my palm. My father told me that I shouldn't hate the man who was behind all of this…that I should feel sorry for him instead.

I've tried to be patient and good about it all, but deep down, there was a part of me that wanted to begin kicking and thrashing over how unfair this entire situation was. I mean, why of all people did my mother had to die?

"She was a kind and fiery young woman, Anakin." My father was constantly telling me in a quiet, tender voice. "Your mother was brave, stubborn, but had a good heart."

It was always the good people who went first.

•◊•

I sat outside next to a large tree, resting my head against the rough bark. Ahsoka had convinced my father to allow me to get some fresh air after being cooped up in the house for so long. I sighed, feeling the breeze against my face and brought my legs close to my chest.

I traced small patterns against the dirt of the ground and found myself drawing my mother's face.

I first sketched out the outline of my mother's face shape and then I added in her curious, beautiful eyes. I drew her long, curly hair and a wide smile that made everyone feel better.

I felt tears sting at my eyes and didn't even realize Master Kenobi walking up to me until I saw his shadow.

"Having fun?" He asks quietly and I jumped. I whirled around and he gave me a gentle smile, as always. Master Kenobi had patient and intelligent grey-blue eyes that seemed to drink in everything with a curious nature. His hair was mixed in with grey and red now, but I never considered him old. Everything about him, including his movement made him look calm and passive. According to Ahsoka, he was known as the 'perfect Jedi' or the 'Negotiator' due to the fact that he was quite the speaker and had a talent in compromising.

"Anakin?" Master Kenobi asks me quietly, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him and nodded. "I'm drawing." I said shortly, gesturing at the dirt sketch.

"I can see that. Do you mind if I join you?" Master Kenobi asks, lowering himself next to me. I shrugged. "If you want." I replied.

The Jedi master smiled and he folded his hands neatly in his lap and inspected my drawing. Recognition slowly takes over his face and he finally says in a slow, soft voice, "You're quite the artist, Anakin."

I kicked at a patch of grass, choosing to not respond.

"The likeliness is…unbelievable." He murmurs. "You drew your mother."

I stared at the sky, feeling tears sting my eyes. I focused on a certain cloud and watched as it slowly turned into nothing but a thin stream of white.

"Anakin." Master Kenobi says quietly and I stood up abruptly and stormed back into the house.

•◊•

I heard Master Kenobi, Ahsoka and my father all talking downstairs in worried, hushed tones. A couple times I heard my name and covered my head with my pillow, trying to muffle out their voices.

I didn't know much time passed, but when I finally reopened my eyes, my father was seated next to me. I slowly picked up my head and whispered, "What was going on?"

My father shrugs and says, "We were just discussing when you were going to start your Jedi training, that's all."

I frowned and suddenly felt rage course through my veins. I picked up my light saber and threw it against the wall as hard as I could.

It hit the metallic wall with a hard thud and landed on the ground.

"Anakin!" My father shouts, wide-eyed and he turned back to me. I felt tears streaming down my face and his glare softens.

"Oh, Anakin…" My father whispers and he sat down next to me. "What's wrong?" He asks. I felt sobs shaking my entire body and my face began to heat up in embarrassment. "I miss her a lot." I whispered. "I don't know why it had to be this way…"

"I want to be a good Jedi, Dad…I really do. But I…I just wish that she was around to see it. I mean, I'm using her light saber for Force's sake!" I said, halfheartedly lifting the weapon through levitation and brought it back into my outstretched hand.

"She's seeing you train, Anakin. And I know that she's very proud." My father says gently, placing an arm around my shoulders. "In fact, she's probably laughing over how much you've grown."

"But she's dead." I said sadly.

"She's dead, but not entirely." My father says agreeably. "Listen, Anakin, I've never known much about the Jedi…at least, not until I met your mother, but I've always heard from her that people live through the Force."

"It still doesn't bring her back." I replied.

My father's eyes saddened and he nods. "No, it doesn't bring her back…" He murmurs but gave me a small smile. "But think about how much she's given you. She's given you a chance to live as a Jedi youngling, a chance for you to see the world around you. That's what she would have wanted."

I sighed and whispered, "Okay."

My father smiled and he stood up. "Come on, then. Let's get started."


End file.
